


escape

by Piriluk (orphan_account)



Category: Vocaloid
Genre: Alternate Universe - Dystopia, Angst, Dystopia, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Loss, Oneshot, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-20
Updated: 2015-11-20
Packaged: 2018-05-02 11:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5246996
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/Piriluk
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>it hurt the most because she left him behind in the dust and his own despair. rinlen if you squint. ONESHOT</p>
            </blockquote>





	escape

**escape**

.

.

.

The iron felt like a sheet of ice against the rough of his palms.

Rin sat beside him, her legs dangling over the edge of the roof. Her breath spilled from her lips in white puffs, evaporating into the night sky.

"I hate this place," she whispered. "I hate this place, and I want to get out of here."

He stared down at his pale knees. "Yeah."

It wasn't news; everyone hated this place. Everyone wanted to escape from this world of torture, everyone wanted to run to a place where they felt safe, were safe; just anywhere but here. Anywhere but 'Crypton'.

Her hand fluttered over the red fabric around her neck, almost as if she was silently cursing it. It was something they had to wear, something that bound them to this dreaded place.

If they didn't have it with them, they were shot dead, because it was seen as an act of rebellion. If they did have it, they would be stuck in this purgatory until they were killed.

"Why us?" she asked him. Her eyes met his. "Why us, Len? Why does such a place exist? Why are we here?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno - and if I did, I probably wouldn't be here anyway."

There was no point, no point at all - their fate was to rot in the pits of this living Hell. Their fate was to be like all their mothers and brothers and sisters and great-grandfathers, like all the others who were forced to endure a lifetime of poverty, suffering and injustice.

Rin was silent for a while, before she exhaled and closed her eyes. "I should go." She slid backwards against the slant of the roof, standing carefully to make her way towards the ladder. Len stood and followed after her to see her off.

She perched on the top rung of the ladder, looking up at him, her lips pressed together. "Do you think there's a way out of here?" she asked him.

The boy blinked, not understanding the question. "Huh?"

"Out of Crypton, I mean," she elaborated.

Len swallowed. "Yeah. Probably. I guess. But I don't want to try it."

Rin looked sullen, picking at the splinters of wood on the rung in front of her. "You never want to try anything, Len."

He said nothing, because she was right. He was too scared to do anything, too scared to die.

She waited for a reply, but when one never came, she muttered a quiet, "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he responded automatically. After a moment of hesitation, she disappeared down the ladder and into the darkness, never to return.

That was the last time anyone saw her.

.

The iron felt like a sheet of ice against the rough of his palms.

He hadn't been up here; not in a while, not since Rin had disappeared.

It'd been two months. Spring was late this year; it was still too cold - his fingers and toes felt numb. He longed for the warmth of his bed, but couldn't bring himself to climb back down the ladder to his room. He heard her calling his name, thought she was back, but she was still gone.

Why'd they have to take her? It was a question that consumed his thoughts day in and out, ever since the day her mother appeared on the doorstep of their house, uttering the dreaded words, "I can't find her."

It was like her existence had been wiped from the history of the planet.

God, he hated it here. Why didn't they take him? Why Rin? What'd she ever do? This place was run by people whose hearts had been eaten out by wolves, replaced by cold, lifeless shells. They were always taking innocent lives, like hungry animals.

Len closed his eyes and held his breath, his feet swinging through the empty air before him. Rin was dead, probably. Or going to be dead. She was gone, and he was stuck here. He was to continue carrying out the same routine of looking blank-faced, obeying his enemies and never living a life of his own.

It was so hopeless - and he couldn't do anything about it.

He just wanted to get out of there. He just wanted to find Rin.

Only death allowed that.

The fall from the roof to the ground was short, but bittersweet. Bittersweet because the idea seemed good initially, until that split millisecond before he hit the ground, where he thought in a panic,  _I don't want to die_.

After that, he expected nothing.

But his eyes were still open, staring up at the swirls of stars illuminating the night sky over his head, twinkling down at him as if they were laughing at his failure. The shock of his fall made him feel numb for a moment, before pain fed its way into the limbs that had made a sharp  _crack_  upon impact.

God, god,  _god_ , what was he doing?

He wanted to cry out; everything hurt. He missed Rin, he really did. He wanted to see her, he really did.

But then there was Mum. There was Dad. There were all the other people he would be leaving behind, people bound to those dreaded red scarves. He didn't want his dad to find his corpse on the ground just outside that morning, he couldn't  _imagine_  that; he didn't want his family to go through the same pain as Rin's.

Who knew whether dying was going to take him to a better place than here. He wanted to get out, but -  _surely,_  there was a way other than  _death?_  Surely, there was  _something else_  he could do?

With the arm that wasn't shattered, he pushed himself off the ground and felt through the grass for that wretched scarf. His body groaned in protest as he stood, his legs weak and sore, before wiping the tears off his cheeks.

Panic filled the pit of his stomach as he realised the accessory was no where to be found. He could've sworn it was there, the cursed object, there beside him when he fell. But it wasn't.

Len glanced up curiously, his eyes catching a flutter of red.

There it hung from the edge of the roof, over his head, almost like it was laughing down at him. It was too far up to reach, and he was too weak, too tired to try and retrieve it - God, if someone _sees_  it, he'll be doomed.

"Rin," he cried out, as if he was blaming it on her.

If she hadn't disappeared, maybe things wouldn't be like this.

Len bent forward, digging the palms of his hands into his eye sockets and yelling out, "Why'd you have to leave me behind like always? Why?  _Why?_ "

The wind howled back at him in reply. But Rin did not.

If she was out there - dead, alive, a ghost - was she watching him? What would she be thinking? What would she say?

He tried to think of what she'd tell him - but all he could do was watch the scarf dangling over his head, mocking him. Dragging his hands down his face, he attempted to straighten his crippled posture.

Like the scarf high above his head, Rin was unreachable; she was too far for him to reach by simply standing there. Like the scarf, she'd finally been freed, moving at will, able to oversee everything. Like the scarf, he'd have to push through all the pain and broken bones to reach her.

The boy closed his eyes.

One day, he might finally be with her again.

**Author's Note:**

> this was my English assignment (i tweaked a few names so it fit into the Vocaloid-verse) from earlier this year. the theme was 'red scarf'. so....
> 
> beta'd by whimsyappletea on ffnet a while ago, as well as corrected by my English teacher. i just fixed up any big mistakes i noticed on receiving my final and the feedback. :)


End file.
